Thursday, November 12, 2009

funny little miniature fairytale show...

the Gossamer Collective and Ghost Gallery in Seattle are running a whimsical group show where all works must be miniatures less than 4x4x4 inches. Artists from all over the world are participating and I am so very curious to see the results !!!show opening Friday 13th November (my birthday )and running til January 2010soooooooo........ here is what I came up with ....13 works ....twigs and sticks and bundling of limited edition ACEO photographs from my fairytale series

"wicked snowman" 4/50

"i'm a real boy" 4/50

"thumbelina and the berry patch adventure" 4/50

"a real fairy" 4/50

"skin as white as snow, hair as black as coal, lips as red as blood..." 2/50"she took one bite of the juicy red apple and fell into a deep sleep" 4/50"kissing frogs... she was getting a bit tired of it ..." 2/50"fallen knights and bravery" 1/50"elf" 1/50"atchoo atchoooo atchoooooooo..." 12/150

Art trading cards can be seen as the modern incarnation of several much older artistic forms. Because of their small size and usually modest price they have been linked to portrait miniatures, which flourished in the 14th century, and were often used as advertisements by wealthy merchant families in arranging marriages for their daughters. Until this time art collecting was mainly the hobby of the Noble and Royal classes.

In later centuries artist trading cards were used throughout Europe and America as art training tools. Artists would trade the cards between themselves to study each others techniques and explore new art movements. The cards paid a particularly important role in the Impressionists art movement. The Impressionists utilized both sides of their artist trading cards, art on one side and a kind of brief resume on the other. The Impressionists were the first known artists to use the cards in trade for anything other then more art. Impressionists often traded the cards with art collectors in exchange for room, board, and art supplies.

M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art cards editions and originals) movement.